YGAM launches Parent Hub gambling education platform

The Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM) has launched Parent Hub, an online platform and education service designed to help parents and carers understand the potential for at-risk gambling among children. The hub, funded in part by FTSE 100 operator GVC Holdings, aims to inform, educate and safeguard children and their parents across topics including loot boxes, which have been linked with increased gambling rates among underage individuals. It aims to educate and encourage both parents and children by building “digital resilience”, using easily implementable measures online, such as disabling pop-ups and in-app purchases. The new website has already been endorsed by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) which cited the resources available as being “vitally important” for parents. The hub is based on research conducted in partnership with academics from Newcastle and Loughborough universities to help parents and carers understand why, and control how, their children purchase items like loot boxes. The research was used to formulate YGAM’s recommended measures and forms part of a larger Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded project investigating the blurring between gaming and gambling in digital games. YGAM founder and CEO Lee Willows praised the cross-industry support from operators GVC, Lottoland and Playtech in developing the Parent Hub platform. “Our vision was to have an up-to-date, central expert resource library for parents and carers and extend our successful face-to-face [service] directly to parents, with a fully integrated digital offer, which is phase two of this important initiative,” said Willows. GVC group director of corporate affairs Grainne Hurst hailed YGAM as an “incredible organisation” highlighting the simplicity and user-friendliness of the resources available for parents on the site. “We are delighted to have been able to support its vitally important educative resource hub, which launches at a crucial time during the summer holidays,” said Hurst. “GVC’s Changing for the Bettor strategy seeks to advance society’s collective understanding of the risks of problematic gaming and gambling, and we look forward to continuing our support of YGAM’s evidence-led efforts in this area,” she added. In May, YGAM launched a £10m gambling education campaign, in partnership with the BGC and fellow gambling-related harm prevention charity GamCare. Focusing on children aged between 11-19, the campaign is being funded independently by existing BGC members, with the aim of helping young people to better understand the risks associated with gambling.